Apparatus for drying and cooling gases preferably for the purpose of liquefaction ofgas



Sept. 14 1926. 1,599,681-

A. SELIGMANN APPARATUS FOR DRYINGAND. coomue GASES PREFERABLY FORTHE PURPOSE OF LIQUEFAGTION OF GAS Filed Feb. 21, 1924 Y 44% mm A Ji dg'srfiarge 1? only during fa /z prams area a)" dura'ngfiezwzce' Z /M ,5 I

' according to the present invention call for I: Patented Sept. 14, 1923.

UNITED STAT A ENT- ornca. z?

ARTHUR SELIGMANN, or nnnumr, cam:

minus FOR name annlcoonme eases remnan roa rnn ruarosn or LIQUEIJACTION or GAS. I

' Application filed February 21, 1924, Serial No. 594,274,. and in Germany Kay 20,-1822.

For manypurposes itis ncessary to free gases from aqueous vapor or other easily, condensing constituents (for instance hen;

zole). Especially those gases, for instance 5 air, whichhave tobe submitted to the liquefaction must be previously carefully dried as otherwise the vapor contained in the the heat transmission.

To make the drying effective it is necessary to cool the gas to a temperature below aqueous vapor, for instance to below 0).'

the freezing temperature of the easily con-' densible constituent '(for the separation'of All gas cooling apparatus of known construction possess however the inconvenience that they freeze and must,be thawed to make them read for use. The reason therefore is that in t e apparatus of commonly used construction the gas to be dried is admitted at the top and delivered at the lower end. The accompanying drawings show diagrammatically heat exchanger apparatus, Fig. '1 being a diagraminatical illustration .of a refrigerating device, and Fig. 2 showing diagrammatically a refrigerating device combined with, a separation device.v In Fig. 1 of the drawings a refrigerator according to the invention is diagrammatically shown. The refrigerating medium flows in the direction of the arrows .e c.

The gas to be cooled enters at f, moves in the direction of the arrows g and flows out at h. The condensed liquid vcan be withdrawn at In If, for instance the saturated air contains at 20 C. in 1 c. m, 17.3 grams of vapor it contains at 0? C. only 4.8 grams, wherefrom it follows that at the cooling up to 0 72% of the moisture contained in the air has condensed, andaccording to my invention this 72% of condensed liquid can flow back to "the hotter zones'to be continuously or intermittentlywithdrawn. Only-the'remaining 28% will settle as solid deposit and give .cause for blocking of the refrigerator by ice so that the refrigerators constructed invention consists in the arrangement of the 'liquefying and .separatin above stated manner.

counter current heat exchanger of' the gas apparatus in the uch an arrangement is diagrammatically shown in Fig. 2 of the drawings. As shown in this Fig. 2, the counter current heat exchanging apparatus Z is associated with a separation device or column m, valves being interposed in the conduits through which air to be separated in its constituents is caused to flow through the heat exchange apparatus and separation device.

Accordingto the present invention theflow of the gas to be liquefied which comes from the compressor is directed from below upward. If after a longer time of working the apparatus has frozen and must be gettinginto the separation device (column) m. In this case the column may remain cold and it is only necessary to moderately heat the counter current heat exchanger Z so that the plant is re-started much more rapidly than otherwise.

asv

In the operation of the device diagram matically illustrated. in Fig. 2, air at high pressure is conveyed into the conduit 8,- the valve n being open, and flowing through the refrigerating apparatus Z, 'it continues" through the conduit t into the pipe coil located as shown at the bottom of the column m, and the valve 9 being open it is discharged into the se aration device or column m. 'The separation takes place, the nitrogen being discharged, while the valve 1* closed, thru the counter current heat exchanger land leaving at the conduit 'wof said heat exchanging apparatus as the valve pjs opened.

crating or heatv exchanging device Z, the

valve 1) is opened; and air preferably com- I ing from the compressor enters the conduit u, rises after having passed thruthe 6pened valve 12, into the heat exchange apparatus, and is discharged through the conduit '0, as

now the valve 1' is opened. All of the other valves are closed and the airfor thawing out the refrigerating device, therefore,'does When it is desired to tha'w outthe refrigl so that no interruption of service can occur. 'For'the thawing hot gas from the compressor is preferably used which is in this case i not conducted into the water cooler, its heat of compression -being utilized for the thawing.

WhatI claim is:

In an apparatus for the liquefaction and separation of gases, a countercurrent heat exchanger having at its lower end a valved inlet for high pressure gas, -a conduit extendin upward from the valved inlet in the interior of the heat exchanger and having an, outlet at the upper end, an inlet for low pressure gas at the upper end of the heat exchanger, a valved outlet for the low pressure gas at the lower end, and a second valved outlet at the upper end, the valved outlet at the lower end and the second valved outlet at thev upper end being in communication with each other through the interior of the heat exchanger, whereby a thawing medium introduced into the heat exchanger at the lower outlet passes through the interior of the heat exchanger in the same direction as the high pressure gas in.

the conduit. v s In testimony whereof, I afiix my signature.

ARTHUR SELIGMANN. 

